Animated toy



' Dec. 7, 194 8. UCK AUPT 2,455,430

ANIMATED TOY Filed April 6, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTROR Cl-Q/STOPHEEZack/mun Dec. 7, 1948. c. LUCKHAUPT 2,455,430

ANIMATED TOY Filed A ril's. 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR CHES PHEEZUC/(HHUPT -Y', I

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Patented Dec. 7, 1948 UNITED S TATES PATETN T OFFICE ANIMATED 'TUYChristopher Luckhaupt, Jamaica, N. Y.

Application April .6, 1946, Serial No. 660,217

1 Claim. 1 My present invention relates to animated toys. "Moreparticularly, the invention is directed to 'toys comprising objectssimulating humans and/or other-animals, being-selected as typical.'Su'c'h animated object is mounted on a hollow "base, the legs, andneck, or other elements of such animated object being articulated, as byforming such articulated elements individually of hollow parts arrangedin serial relation and strings of limited stretchability passing throughsuch articulated hollow parts, and respective strings at their one endsbeing fixed, the other ends of such strings being secured to a block ofwood or like rigid elemelnt disposed laterally within an open-bottomedhollow base, a resilient element, preferably sponge rubber, beinginterposed wit'hin'the hollow base between its closed top and the upperface of such block, the block being held in displaceable relation to thesides and to the top of the hollow base by a sheet of resilient materialsecured at its edge portions to the hollow base at mutually spacedlocations, whereby upon exerting pressure upon such re- '-s'ilientmaterial at variant locations and with Variant degree, such 'object'issubjected to animation, in variant natural or unnatural action.

Further features and objects of the invention will'be more fullyunderstood from the following detailed description and the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

'F-ig. 1 is a front elevational view of an animated toy constructedpursuant to the invention,

showing a giraffe as the animated object, this view illustrates suchobject in a normal pose.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a central vertical sectional view,somewhat diagramma'tic, ofl'igs. l and '2.

Fig. 4 :is a perspective-view of Figs. 1 and 2, showing the obfiiect in-an animated pose.

.5 is a detail sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. '7 i's' a detail bottom perspective view o'f'the hollowbaseassembly of the toy shown in Figs.

:1, 2,, 23 and 4.

Fig. I8 is a detail side perspective view, indieating one manner offixedly tying the upper ends of thestrin'gs, namely at the upperterminus of the neck element,'the head of the object beingisecured'inposition by means'of a socket making -.a frictional fit overthe upper terminus of the thus-serving to: conceal the tied fixed endsor the strings.

1 5259 a front elevationalwiew "of another generally an objectpreferably'simulat'ing a live object typified by a giraffe. lldesignates the hollow base, shown-as rectangular inflonfiguration, whichis closed at its top Ila and substantially open at its bottom llb.

Such simulated object [0, as shown, comprises a body portion I2, whichas appears from Fig. 3

. is provided. at appropriately spaced locations in its lower portionswith perforations I3 appropriate forarticulated connection with the legsI 4. Such .perforationsl3 communicate with the enlarged recess l5 whichis disposed centrally'of the body l2 and which 'extendsfrorn the zone ofattachment of the't'ail 'l 6 and ends at'a location toward thefrontoftthe body. :At the frontal portion of such recess l5 lead theperforations I! which end at the lower end of the articulated neck l8.Since the illustrated object has four legs-the perforations l3 are fourin number and correspondingly the number of perforations H may be the.same.

As shown, the legs I4 and the neck I 8 are articulated by the provisionof individual longitudinalIy extending centrally perforated elements. Inthe instance of the illustrated 'giraffefigure, the lowermost perforatedelement 14a of each leg is of hoof formation, the lowerface ofxwhichengages the upper face Ila-of the hollow base, the remaining elements ofeach 'leg being of-general elongated formation, their mutually engagin'gfaces being "preferably of 'ball and socket formations, to facilitatemutually relative displacement of the respective elements of each leg,in sim'ilitude to natural articulation or movement in weird manner, asmay be selectively desired, as appears .morefully hereinafter.

The articulated neck I8 is shown comprising four articulatable elementseach having four longitudinally extending perforations. The num.-

ber of perforations in each articulated element of the neck maybe:fromone "to four, as preferred.

lowing manner.

member 23.

then tied, as above indicated and as illustrated. in Fig. 8. The head 26is placed in fixed relation ,as desired in an unnaturalv position,-,

being fixed relative to the upper terminus |8a of the neck I8. Suchfixing of the upper ends of the strings may be had by tying the twostrings to one another and the other two strings to one another. Thesestrings continue from the neck elements through the respectiveperforations l1, I! of the body l2, then through the perforations |3,|3, and thence through the perforations of the elements of therespective legs The strings that pass through the perforationsofthe'articulated elements of the front legs are designated l3. Theremaining two strings, designated 20, extend through the perforations,designated Ha,- of the upper portion of the body l2, then through therecess l5 and thence through the perforations of the elements of thehind legs Ma.

The lower ends of the strings |,9,- |3, 2|], 20, as

also appears from Fig. 3, extend through suitable perforations in thetop of cured to the block 2|, as at its upper face. Such block may be ofwood. In the instance where the hollow base is rectangular, as shown,the block 2| is of corresponding configuration but of lesser dimensionswhereby the block is freely displaceable relative to the lateral wallsof the base Interposed between the upper face of the block 2| and theinner face of the top Ha of the base is a mass 22 of soft rubber, suchas sponge rubber, shown as a block member of rectangular configurationwhich is dimensioned so as to substantially fill the upper portion ofthe hollow base, said block member having vertical perforations 22aaligned with the perforations in the base top for passage therethroughof the respective strings l9, I9, 20, 20, such arrangement preventingundue wear on the strings.

The block 2| is disposed within the hollow base I to afford displacementin variant direction and extent as by securement at its lower face to aflexible member, such as a sheet 23 of flexible rubber, shown in Fig.'7, of polygonal configuration, in this instance of quadrilateralformation, its four apices 23a being individually secured to the bottomof the base as by means of tacks 24, or the like; the securement of theflexible rubber '23 to the block 2| is shown by means of a nail 25,passing centrally through the rubber sheet 23.

The parts of the toy are assembled in the fol- The strings |9, I9, 28,20 are first secured at their lower ends to the block 2| at mutuallyspaced locations, then respectively threaded through the perforations22a of the rubber member 22, then through the respective leg elements ofthe object, thence through the recess 5 of the body 2 of the object,the'tail |6 being removed to afford such manipulation; the furthe!manipulation of the strings l9, I9, is through the recess l1, l1, andthe stringsifl, 2|] through the perforations Ha, Ha of the body, andfinally through the perforations of the elements of the neck member It,the length of each string being ample to extend beyond the upperterminus |8a of the neck l8. The yieldable member 23, at-

tached to the block 2 is then secured to the bottom face of the base Thestrings are then drawn taut to a proper extent to effect partialcompression of the rubber member 22; i, e. by the block 2| and also totension inwardly the resilient The upper ends of the strings are withthe upper terminus lBa of the neck as by frictional engagement therewithand may be placed in position simulating a natural pose, or dependentupon the vagaries of the user. The tail I6 is shown as a single element,the inner end being tapered to form a friction fit with the exterioropening of the recess l5. If desired, the tail may be formed ofarticulated elements, similarly perforated as illustrated with respectto the articulated elements of the legs and the neck through whichperforations a string passes, one end of which is secured to the block2| and the other end to the terminus of the tail.

Upon assembly of the respective parts of the simulating object, itsantics are effected by the user by variantly compressing thecompressible element 23 in degree and location or locations,

the base and arese- T being fixed thereat.

causing relative less tautness of the respective strings passing throughthe articulated parts. Fig. 4 illustrates an animated position of theillustrated giraffe, it being understood that any number of natural andunnatural movements of the respective parts of the object are availableby selectively varying the location or locations and degree of pressureapplied to the rubber member 23. In such operation the sponge rubber, orequivalent resilient material 22, undergoes varying extent ofcompression of the respective portions of its mass, effecting variantdegrees of partial release of tautness of the respective strings,enhancing the prantics of the animated figure. Such enhanced action isattained by coordination of the solid block 2| and by the flexiblemember 23 with the sponge rubber member 22, the rubber memoer 23, uponrelease of pressure exerted by the user, serving also to return theblock 2| to or toward its normal position, this imparting variantrelease of pressure upon variant portions of the sponge rubber member22.

It will be observed that the provision of securement of the block 2| tothe flexible member 23 affords positioning the block 2| normally whollywithin the hollow base thus enabling the toy when non-operated to bestably placed upon a table or like support.

In like manner, two or more simulated objects may be embodied in thetoy. Thus,-as illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, an object 30 simulating awoman and an object 3| simulating a man may serve as the animatedobjects, and as shown may be positioned to face one another, to simulatefolk dancing, etc. The articulated elements of the woman, as shown,comprise the legs and arms, viz. each two in number, and similarly withrespect to the articulated elements of the man. In such arrangement, asdiagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 10, with respect to the male figure3|, two strings pass through perforations of one leg. thence through thevertical recess 34 in the body 3| a. of the figure, the end of onestring 32 being fixedly secured at the upper terminus of the neck 3 lb,the other string 32a continuing at the upper end of the recess 34through the perforations of the articulated elements of one arm, its oneend The opposite ends of the strings 32, 32a are secured to the block2|, which is coordinated with the sponge rubber member 22 and the block2| yieldably held under tension by an individual flexible member 23,similarly as described hereinabove with reference to the embodiment ofFigs. 1 through 7. Similar assembly is carried out withrespect to thestrings 33, 33a, respectively having one end fixedly secured to theterminus of the neck of the male figure and at the terminus of the otherarm, the opposite ends of such strings 33, 33a, being fixed to the block2|, similarly as above. Fig. 11 illustrates such individual assembly ofthese parts for the-respective figures 30, 3|, in which instance thehollow base Il may have an oval configuration.

Fig. 12 illustrates, on somewhat reduced scale, a hollow base 40, shownof oval configuration, in which is enclosed a single sponge rubbermember 4|, also of oval configuration of lesser dimensions than the ovalinterior of the base 40, a block of wood 42, also of oval configurationof corresponding dimensions as the block 42, and a single flexiblemember 43, of polygonal configuration, secured at its center by a nail44 to the center of the block 42, and at its apices 43a to the bottomrim of the hollow base 4|.

I claim:

A toy comprising a figure having a plurality of articulated engagingelements provided with communicating perforations; a hollow base supporting said figure on its top, said base having perforations in its topcommunicating with the element perforations and having an open bottom; ablock of non-yielding material having lesser horizontal dimension thanthe interior of the base whereby it is displaceable and tiltabletherein; a member of flexible material secured at its periphery adjacentthe open bottom of said base; means for attaching said flexible membercentrally to said block of non-yielding material; an elastic member ofsponge rubber interposed between said block and the inner face of thetop of said base; said member having vertical perforations aligned withthe perforations of the top of the base and having horizontal dimensionssuch that it substantially fills the base; and string means having oneend thereof secured to said block and extending through the perforationsoi. said sponge rubber member and of the top of said base and thencethrough the perforations of the articulated elements and having itsother end fixedly secured to an upper portion of said figure, saidsponge rubber member normally tensioning said string means, and saidblock being operative to vary the tension of said string means.

CHRISTOPHER LUCKHAUPT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,421,279 Marty May 27, 1947FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 459,788 Belgium Sept. 29, 1945

